Movies

Kochi: Rattling box office collections, Mohanlal starrer Pulimurugan shatters all Mollywood records to emerge as the first Malayalam movie to join the 100-crore club.
The actor was elated and shared the news on Twitter. “Happy that #Pulimurugan becomes the 1st Malayalam Movie to enter 100 Cr Club. Thanks to entire crew, audience and almighty,” he tweeted.
Pulimurugan is made at a budget of Rs 25 crore, which is huge money for a Malayalam film. It has broken several records and created a few since its release on October 7.
Pulimurugan is an out and out commercial entertainer, starring Mohanlal, Kamalinee Mukherjee and Jagapathi Babu in the lead roles. The film that deals with man-animal conflict is directed by Vysakh.
The movie is also on a record-setting spree. It has completed 10,000 houseful shows in just 14 days, which is an all-time new record.
Meanwhile, the film has earned more than Rs 60 crore at the Kerala box office alone.
According to reports, the film had 600 plus shows on its opening day, which is more than Rajinikanth’s Kabali and Salman Khan’s Sultan, as they had 425 shows and 225 shows respectively in UAE and GCC regions.
The filmmakers have also earned Rs 15 crore in sales of the film’s satellite and overseas rights.
Looking at the success in Mollywood, Pulimurugan has also been dubbed into many languages including Hindi, Telugu and foreign languages like Chinese, Vietnamese and English.
The action-adventure film has already pushed the envelope for the Malayalam film industry, in terms of special effects, budget and theatrical collection.

Mumbai: Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma on Monday announced his first international project titled "NUCLEAR," which will be made at the whopping budget of Rs 340 crore.
The 54-year-old director took to Twitter to share the news and details about his maiden international film.
"My 1st international film to be made at a cost of 340 cr is NUCLEAR...#RGVNUCLEAR," he tweeted along with the poster of the movie, a CMA global production.
"I have been an avid and voracious reader of both fiction and non fiction but never in my life until now, have I come across a subject matter like NUCLEAR.
"Yes it's going to be much more costlier than the most expensive film ever made in India and the reason for that is because the subject matter truly demands that it is filmed on a scale never before seen," Varma said in note shared on the film's website.
The film deals with a subject of terrorism and will explore the consequences the world will face if nuclear bomb gets into the wrong hands.
"...The echoes of the nuclear bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are still reverberating in the world's ears 70 years after they exploded making it impossible for the world to forget the terror they unleashed.
"The only thing which can be more terrifying than that is, if that explosion happens now in our times...It's obvious that an actual nuclear explosion in a big city like Mumbai can easily trigger WORLD WAR III and thus end the WORLD," he added.
The project will be shot in the USA, China, Russia and India and will have a cast of American, Chinese, Russian, British, Yemenis and Indian actors.

Chennai: The makers of superstar Rajinikanth’s 1995 cult film Baashha will re-release the film on December 12 to mark the birthday celebrations of the Thalaivar, who turns 66 this year.
Although the film is two-decade old, the news of its re-release has been generating a lot of buzz in the industry and among the moviegoers. The film, Baashha, has been digitally spruced up and is released once again by RM Veerappan of Sathya Movies.
Baashha tells the story of an autorickshaw driver called Manikkam, who lives a quiet life with family and strives hard to fulfil the dreams of his siblings.
But he has a bloody background. In the past, to avenge the murder of his best friend, Manikkam became ‘Manik Baashha’ a dreaded gangster and takes the Mumbai underworld by storm almost overnight. To fulfil the dying wish of his father, he gives up his gangster life and goes away with his family.
However, he still has an unfinished business with the rival gang leader, Mark Anthony, played by Raghuvaran, who forces Manikkam to come out of hiding.
Baashha shot up the worldwide popularity of Rajinikanth to a whole new high. The film, directed by Suresh Krissna was originally released during Pongal in 1995 and it turned out to be one of the milestones in Rajinikanth’s career, besides becoming a trendsetter.
Since the release of the film, almost all the young leading actors down south have tried to make their very own Baashha but with little success.
Baashha is expected to take a good opening at the box office at par with new movies when it releases next month once again after 20 years.
In 2012, Rajinikanth’s 2007 hit film Sivaji was converted into 3D format with reduced running time and re-released to a good response at the box office. In 2014 his film Lingaa was also released on his birthday. However, the film was a dud.
But, there may not be a better time for re-releasing the classic gangster drama, Baashha as Rajinikanth’s last outing Kabali was a blockbuster. The Thalaivar in a drool-worthy gangster avatar in the film created a massive success at the worldwide box office.

Chennai: Superstar Rajinikanth starrer Tamil science fiction action-drama 2.o, a sequel to 2010 blockbuster Enthiran, will most likely feature only one song, a source said.
"There is only one song in the film and the makers have already shot it. However, the album will feature five or six songs," the source from the film's unit told IANS.
The solo song is a duet, and it was shot in Ukraine.
"This song was shot across exotic locations in Ukraine. It's a mellifluous duet and it has been picturized on Rajinikanth sir and Amy Jackson," he said.
Double Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman is composing the tunes for the movie, which is directed by Shankar.
The film marks the Tamil debut of Akshay Kumar, who plays the antagonist. It also features Adil Hussain and Sudhanshu Pandey in important roles.
The first look of the much-anticipated film will be unveiled on November 20 in Mumbai and the event will be streamed live.

Bengaluru: The distribution rights of Bollywood superstar Hrithik Roshan’s upcoming film Kaabil have been acquired by Malayalam superstar Mohanlal’s home banner Aashirvad Cinemas in Kerala.
“Hrithik Roshan starring Kaabil will be released in Kerala on January 26 by Aashirvad Release through Maxlab,” read the post on the Aashirvad Cinemas Facebook page. The top production house in Malayalam is co-owned by Antony Perumbavoor, a close friend of Mohanlal.
Seems like Kaabil is set to end Hrithik’s dry spell at the box office. The Krrish actor currently requires a commercially successful film as his previous film Mohenjo Daro turned out to be a dud. Mohanlal’s production house has the habit of selecting and buying the distribution rights of the films that are usually set to draw large crowds to the theatres.
Earlier this year, Aashirvad Cinemas gave Kabali, starring Rajinikanth, the biggest release in Kerala. According to reports, Mohanlal’s production house bagged the theatrical rights of the Tamil blockbuster for a whopping Rs 7.5 crore. The Rajinikanth-starrer was released on more than 300 screens and had 1000 plus shows on its day one in Kerala alone.
The financial details of the deal involving the forthcoming Bollywood film have not been disclosed as yet by Aashirvad Cinemas.
Interestingly, even Mohanlal in Oppam, this year’s his first blockbuster in Malayalam, played a blind man. The crime-thriller had been dominating the box office, until his Pulimurugan was released.
Recently, the trailer of Kaabil was released mostly to positive reviews. The film is a revenge story of Rohan Bhatnagar, a visually impaired person, who takes the law into his own hands after something terrible happens to his wife.
Besides, Hrithik the film has Yami Gautam as its female lead. It is produced by Rakesh Roshan under his banner FilmKraft Productions and directed by Sanjay Gupta. It is slated to be released worldwide on January 26.

Mumbai: National award-winning film Baahubali: The Beginning, Bajirao Mastani and Salman Khan-starrer Sultan will be part of the Indian Panorama section at 47th International Film Festival of India in Goa next month.
Akshay Kumar-starrer patriotic drama Airlift will also be screened at the extravaganza to be held from November 20 to November 28.
Among the other 22 feature films in the section are Marathi blockbuster Sairat, Sanskrit movie ISHTI, which is also the opening film of the feature section, Bengali drama Shankhachil and Tamil sports drama Irudhi Suttru.
The non-feature film section jury has picked 21 films out of 198 eligible entries. The jury has recommended, Ima Sabitri directed by Bobo KH, as the opening non-feature film under the category.
National Award winning film Amdavad Ma Famous directed by Hardik Mehta will also be screened in the section. The Feature Film Section Jury is headed by filmmaker Rajendra Singh Babu, while documentary filmmaker Arvind Sinha chairs the non-feature film section jury.
Apart from this, the festival will also have a special section to showcase award-winning short films based on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’.
The short films were awarded at the Swachh Bharat Film Festival, organised and curated by National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) on the behalf of Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, recently.
The festival received 4,346 entries, of which 20 were shortlisted and awarded.
Short film Murga, helmed by debutante director Katyayan Shivpuri, will be the opening film at IFFI under the special section of short films.
The short was awarded the first prize at the Swachh Bharat Film Festival at the hands of Information & Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu.
Other short films that will be screened under the special section include “Nanha Doot” by Sudhanshu Sharma, Chembuku Moodindi (The Dying Vessel) by KVK Kumar, “Sarkarmi Rati Wadho” by Akshay Danavale, Manini by Praveen Vyas among others.

Chennai: It is a known fact that actor Dhanush will join hands with director Karthik Subbaraj for his next film. According to sources, major portion of the shooting will take place in New York.
The latest buzz is that legendary Hollywood actor Al Pacino has been tapped to play an important role in the film.
In fact, the makers of the untitled film wanted to cast Morgan Freeman in the role but things didn’t fall in place. So now the makers have knocked on the door of Al Pacino and is at present discussing the project and other details, said reports.
If the rumors come true, it will be a big boost for the regional cinema.
It is worth mentioning that director Shankar had tried to rope in the Hollywood superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger to play the main antagonist in his upcoming movie Enthiran 2, starring Rajinikanth. However, the director had to drop the idea due to various reasons.
In fact, Dhanush himself is all set to make his debut in Hollywood with a big-ticket film, which will have actors like Uma Thurman and Alexandra Daddario in the lead roles. The actor earlier this year announced that he plays the titular role in the film titled “The Extraordinary Journey Of The Fakir Who Got Trapped In An Ikea Cupboard”, under the direction of Iranian-French filmmaker Marjane Satrapi.
Dhanush’s home production Wunderbar Films, meanwhile, is tipped to bankroll the actor’s first film with Karthik, who has super hit films like Pizza and Jigarthanda to his credit. A formal announcement of the project, including cast and crew, is expected to be made soon.
Currently, Dhanush is shooting for Enai Nokki Paayum Thotta, which is directed by Gautham Menon. After wrapping up his schedule for the film, he will start shooting for Karthik’s new directorial venture, which is expected to happen early next year.

Mumbai: The story behind Aamir Khan starrer Dangal was inspired by a small newspaper article about the father, who trained his daughters to become world class champions.
An article in 2012 about Mahavir Singh Phogat caught the attention of one of Disney’s creative executives Divya Rao and inspired her to imagine a movie about the Phogats, reports Pinkvilla.
The stories behind the spark of an idea for some of our iconic movies have always been fascinating like this one which was about Mahavir’s decision to train his daughters in wrestling, a game commonly perceived as a man’s sport across the country, especially in a state like Haryana.
When Rao pitched the story to Siddharth Roy Kapoor and other members of the Disney team, they instantly agreed to tell it on the big screen.
The next step was to bring someone on board for penning down the story and directing it. It was then that Nitesh Tiwari came on board. He saw the soul in the story and immediately set off for Haryana to meet Mahavir Singh Phogat and his wrestler-daughters.
Once the Phogats agreed to tell their story to the world and Nitesh penned a script, Disney approached Aamir Khan to essay Mahavir Singh’s character.
Khan loved the director’s narration instantly and rest, we all know, is yet to be here. The biographical sports drama film also stars Sakshi Tanwar, Fatima Sana Shaikh and Sanya Malhotra.

Mumbai: Actress Konkona Sensharma's directorial debut "A Death in the Gunj" saw its Indian premiere at the 18th Jio MAMI Mumbai International Film Festival with Star here.
The opening movie of the festival stars Vikrant Massey, Kalki Koechlin, Om Puri, Tanuja, Gulshan Devaiah and Ranvir Shorey among others.
The movie received a thundering applause from the audience after it got over last night.
It is set in the colonial town of McCluskieganj in the winters of 1979. What starts as an uneventful family holiday takes a twist when the guests start playing with the spirits.
The premiere was attended by Konkona, Kalki, Huma Qureshi, Neha Dhupia, Rahul Bose, Angad Bedi, Kunal Khemmu, Soha Ali Khan among others.
Konkona said she was excited to see how the Indian audience would receive the film and was happy that the movie was chosen as the opening film.
"A Death in the Gunj" became the third Hindi film after "Aligarh" and veteran actress Jaya Bachchan-starrer "Hazar Chaurasi Ki Maa", to open the festival since its launch in 1998.
The movie is produced by Ashish Bhatnagar, Vijay Kumar Swami, Raagii Bhatnagar, Abhishek Chaubey, and Honey Trehan under the banners of Studioz IDrream and MacGuffin Pictures.
The eight-day long festival will close on October 27 with American drama film "Manchester by the Sea".

Mumbai: Entire social media was abuzz with excitement when Balakrishna actually paid a visit to Amitabh Bachchan on the sets of ‘Sarkar 3’.
Everyone was of the opinion that it was a random visit but there turned out to be a reason behind it after all, and a big one at that.
According to reports, Balayya met up with the Megastar to thank him personally for coming aboard his next film.
The movie is titled as ‘Rythu’ and it will be directed by Krishna Vamsi.
Apparently, Big B will play a brief role in the movie for which he has allotted a total of 17 days from his busy schedule.
‘Rythu’ will go on floors from February next year and will mark Amitabh's first lengthy role in a Telugu movie.
Meanwhile, Balayya himself is busy shooting for the historical epic ‘Gautamiputra Satakarni’, which will release in January next year.